Sapphire Falls (The Lost Realm #2)

19. Chapter 18

Chapter 18

Savine

S avine sat in a chair next to his bed, Avery’s limp hand in his. She’d been in and out of consciousness since the attack two days ago, and Savine wasn’t going to leave her to wake up alone. Kyla had done what she could to set Avery’s broken wrist, but there was little they could do for the cracked ribs that damaged her frail human body.

Every time Avery breathed in, she’d wheeze and she was beginning to grow unusually hot, her body its own dry furnace.

As he listened to Avery’s labored breathing, Savine felt a chill of cold dread seep down his spine. Avery didn’t have the long life, natural healing abilities and essence to heal her. She was only human and delicate in a way that was unheard of for the fae.

“Water,” Avery muttered from her sleep. Savine picked up an earthenware cup from the side table and tipped the contents into her mouth. Her cracked lips were temporarily moistened by the liquid and she leaned back down into the pillow.

As she laid back, Savine adjusted the furs around her. Maud, the Bayberry healer who had tended his wounds after the mountain lion shifter attacked, entered the room without knocking. He’d already told her to come in without disturbing Avery.

“May I examine her?” Maud asked. Savine nodded as he watched her pull back the furs that he’d just arranged around Avery. He held his breath as the woman lifted Avery’s nightgown. Across her abdomen was extensive bruising, as well as along her chest. The woman laid her hands on Avery’s injuries, trying again to heal Avery with her essence. The first few tries had failed, and this seemed no different. Savine watched with clenched teeth as the woman forced her essence into Avery’s body.

Finally, Maud sighed and pulled back from Avery. Savine quickly folded the blankets over Avery’s still form. “I believe there was an internal injury to her midsection and her lungs, but the injuries continue to not respond to my healing essence,” Maud said.

“What do we do next?” Savine asked, apprehension in his voice.

“We pray for the goddess to heal her,” Maud responded before excusing herself for the bathroom to wash up.

“But—“ Savine protested. “I need a second opinion. Is there anyone else?”

The woman emerged from the bathroom as she said, “I’m the only Bayberry trained healer in Orofine. Your sister has some training, I understand, and there are other Latian healers in Orofine. But nobody who uses their essence to heal.”

“Your essence isn’t healing her!” Savine shouted, surprising himself with the anger that ripped through him at the woman’s useless comment. Maud stepped back with alarm, and Savine took a steadying breath. “There must be tinctures or salves to help. Something…”

“Your Majesty, your soulmate is a human with human frailty. There is little I am trained to do to help someone with these injuries. If she were fae, her body would already be healing itself.”

From the bed, Savine heard Avery mutter something. He came close to her as she said, “Infection. Maybe pneumonia.”

“She says she has an infection, and something I do not understand. Does any of this make sense to you?” Savine said, taking up his place by Avery’s side.

“I’m so sorry that I can’t offer more help,” the healer said as she left the room.

Savine suspected that the woman was purposefully letting Avery die. Perhaps because she was, despite being a Bayberry, loyal to Jasper and the loyalists. What else would explain her presence in Orofine during the war?

Savine stood, whispering into Avery’s ear, “Just a moment, Little Flower. I’ll be right back.”

He went to the door and saw a guard standing in the open air hallway. “I need my sister. Bring her here at once.” The guard nodded and Savine returned to Avery’s side. Her breathing continued to come in short, loud gasps.

After a few minutes Kyla arrived. “Is she worse than before?” Kyla asked.

“Listen,” Savine said as he clutched Avery’s pale hand in his. His essence hardly moved under his brown skin as he watched Avery’s chest rise and fall.

Kyla pursed her lips. “It sounds like there is liquid in her lungs. What did the healer suggest?”

Savine grunted. “That healer’s days are numbered.”

“Is Avery’s skin still hot?” Kyla asked.

“Yes, like an oven. I’ve never felt anything like it.”

Kyla frowned, pursing her lips. “I have. Garnel felt that way and Avery gave him some human medicine. Did her backpack make it off the eagan?”

Savine shrugged. He had no idea where Avery’s backpack ended up in the chaos of her arrival. He’d been a fool to let the folk gather as the eagans landed. He’d been so focused on weeding out the folk accused of speaking out against her that he hadn’t seen the greater population as a threat.

“I don’t know if I can heal the heat that courses through her body. But it sounds like she has fluid in her lungs. We should at the very least get her upright. Perhaps it will help her breath easier. Then I will go search for the bag and send an airborne fae to Hyacinth. I don’t know if she can get here soon enough to help Avery, but we must try.”

Savine agreed and they moved Avery into a sitting position. She cried out in protest and slumped back into the pillows, but her wet breathing sounded a little better.

“Antibiotics,” Avery muttered.

Kyla looked at him with confusion, and Savine didn’t know what Avery needed. Had he ever felt this helpless? At least when she had been taken from him, he could act. But now all there was to do was sit and pray to the Goddess that she would heal his soulmate.

Kyla reached down and pressed her hand against Avery’s forehead. Savine heard the slight hiss she made as she withdrew her hand, shaking her head as she looked at him. “I’ll search for her backpack and get a few tinctures and salves. Just wait here.”

Savine felt helpless as Kyla left the room. Avery’s eyes fluttered open before she began wheezing and coughing again, her body shaking from the effort. “Tell me how to help you. What can I do?”

Avery shook her head and turned her face toward the window. Another ragged cough hit Avery so strongly that she bowed over in pain. Savine stood and got another wet cloth from the sink in the other room. Then he poured her a fresh cup of water before sitting down beside Avery as he brought the cup to her lips.

There was nothing he could do to help her vulnerable, injured body. He was useless to her, and yet he wouldn’t dare leave her.

“Hold me,” Avery croaked. He placed the wet washcloth on her forehead, and settled in with her limp, hot body burning against his own.

He was drifting off to sleep, a deep weariness overcoming him after two sleepless nights by Avery’s side, when he heard the door click open.

Kyla was back, Avery’s backpack strapped to her own back, and she wasn’t alone.

Hyacinth was by her side. Her wild, tangled hair was filled with sticks, weeds, and other plant matter and the pockets of her dress were near-bursting with supplies.

Savine stood up, gently placing Avery’s head on the pillow as another wave of coughing racked through her. He’d never felt more relieved to see the old Bayberry healer.

“Stand aside, boy. I’ll take it from here,” Hyacinth said, pushing past Savine and to Avery’s side. “Poor child! She’s burning up with fever, just as Kyla said. Kyla dear, get her human medicine out of that backpack.”

“How are you here?” Savine stammered out the words, but he still was in disbelief that she’d appeared when he needed her the most.

“Your remaining rebels just arrived in Orofine. Jay brought most of the rebels back, but a few chose to remain in Bayberry and the Middens permanently, including Gaelyn. I traveled with the returners. I suspected that Avery would need my assistance, although when I chose to travel here I thought it would be in an educational capacity. I can see I arrived just in time.”

A wave of relief washed over Savine. If there was anyone that he could trust with Avery’s health, it was Hyacinth.

“Here they are!” Kyla said, handing Hyacinth a small, bright red bag. Hyacinth quickly opened the bag, pulling out small plastic packages. Human medicine. All of it contained strange letters that none of them could discern.

“I don’t want to give her the wrong thing,” Hyacinth mumbled as she placed the items on Avery’s lap. “Let’s wake her. She’s the only one who can make hide or hair out of this language.”

Avery groaned as she returned to consciousness, but she quickly chose the medicine that she needed to reduce her fever. Hyacinth asked all of them about the injuries and inspected Avery’s body. She listened to the story of the attack, deep concentration on her face as she examined Avery.

“Now, the work begins. That fool of a healer, Maud, couldn’t get her essence to respond to Avery’s illness. I’ll try in a moment, but first we can give her body a boost to begin the healing process.” Hyacinth stepped away from the bed and began digging through her pockets, muttering to herself and placing herbs and tinctures on the table as she went. Kyla began setting the plants into an indiscernible order as Hyacinth tossed them on the table. Savine couldn’t stop himself from watching closely as Hyacinth began preparing a mixture of herbs, bark, and other plant matter. She pressed and ground the herbs with a mortar and pestle that had fit in a wide pocket near Hyacinth’s waist.

“I know you are King, and have the right to do as you please, but give me some space! I cannot concentrate with you hovering about,” Hyacinth barked.

“I just—I can’t lose her. Do you think you can heal her?” Savine asked.

Hyacinth turned from her work and looked at Savine. Her features softened as she said, “I have healed much worse, including Susan when she was just a child. She caught some human ailment that was nearly the death of her. But sometimes cases that seem simple can have complications.” She turned back to her work, continuing to pound the plants, bark, and herbs into a paste.

Kyla turned to Savine, warning him, “You may not want to be here for this.” Kyla glanced back to Hyacinth who was slathering the paste on cloth strips.

“I’m not leaving Avery’s side,” Savine said. His tone was harsher than he intended, but his sister nodded.

“I can feel her resilience, Savine. But I know from experience, it is hard to watch a soulmate be healed.”

Savine felt a sinking worry in his stomach as he looked at Avery, pale and feverish on the bed.

Hyacinth ordered, “Get someone to prepare a bath. Hot as she can tolerate.” Savine got up and started the bath himself. He didn’t need someone serving them at this time. All he wanted was to be by Avery’s side as she recovered.

Once the water was deep enough for Hyacinth’s approval, Savine carried Avery to the bath. Her fits of coughing and shallow breaths, as well as the other injuries to her body, had left her too weak to walk on her own. Savine set Avery down on a towel as he helped her take off her nightgown before he slipped her into the water.

While Savine helped Avery to the bath, Hyacinth added some plants to the water. He recognized the rabbitbrush, wooly mullein, and choke cherry bark in the water.

“I’m starting with the lungs,” Hyacinth said curtly as Avery let out a shallow gasp when she hit the hot water. “This bath is similar to steeping tea. My hope is that she will be more open to receiving my essence through the water. With the help of the plants, I can work the healing in two parts.”

Hyacinth pushed up her sleeves before she dipped them into the murky water. Immediately, the water began to illuminate and Avery let out a small cry. Savine moved to be closer to her, holding her lolling head in his arms. The fever coursing through her body had made her delirious, and Avery looked at him as if through a fog. The water shone with light and color as Hyacinth’s essence swirled around Avery. Avery’s shallow, choked breathing became more rapid, reaching a crescendo of weak, panting coughs.

“You’re making her worse!” Savine gritted out.

Hyacinth didn’t reply, but Savine felt Kyla’s steadying hand on his shoulder. “Shh. She’s responding to Hyacinth’s essence, see?” The purple and blue bruising below Avery’s chest was changing to a light brown hue, and the dark lines across her midsection seemed to be diminishing.

“Carry her to the bed. Quickly,” Hyacinth said, and Savine immediately scooped Avery out of the bathtub, soaking his own shirt as she leaned against his chest, rasping for air.

Savine set her down on the bed and moved to pull the blankets and furs up around her, but Hyacinth stopped him. He looked over to Kyla, who carried the plant infusion on strips of cloth. Both women worked quickly, wrapping Avery’s exposed flesh in the herbal cloth.

After they were finished, Hyacinth turned to Savine. “Let her rest with the plants on her for the entire night. I’ll return in the morning to see if she’s made progress. If she hasn’t, we still have options to try.”

Savine put his hand on Hyacinth’s shoulder. He didn’t want to consider what would have happened if Hyacinth hadn’t arrived when she did. “Thank you for all your help. I owe you a debt.”

“Do not start talk of debts. She hasn't recovered yet. You’d do good to take your mind off her sickness and get some fresh air. Latiah needs you to continue ruling, even with Avery ill,” Hyacinth replied as she packed up her remaining tinctures and salves.

Savine couldn’t do that. He knew Raikin could handle the role as he stayed beside Avery. There was nowhere more important than beside Avery.

He saw Kyla and Hyacinth to the door, closing it behind him and returning to his bed. To the bed he wanted to share with Avery not as a patient, but as his soulmate, bonded and beside him.

Morgan

Morgan woke up in a dark room. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of weightlessness as she fell asleep in the eagan’s saddle. Was she back in Nephel?

A small glow came from the corner of the room and she let her eyes focus on the shape of the light. It moved suddenly, approaching her with unnatural quickness.

“You’re awake.” Rylo’s voice came from the glow and his body seemed to become brighter, casting an eerie light around the room.

“What the hell are you doing in here?” Morgan asked.

Rylo let out a dry chuckle. “You’re in my room. You were so asleep that I carried you here. I was also fatigued and didn’t want to fly you down several stories to your own bed.”

Morgan flinched and made a face at him. “You’ve been watching me sleep from the other side of the room? That’s just creepy. If you were so tired, wouldn’t you want your own bed?”

Rylo just smiled in the darkness, his golden eyes glowing before he turned his back on Morgan and walked to the balcony, looking out on the night sky.

Morgan shivered as she crawled out of bed. She was still wearing the same tunic and pants that she’d worn on the flight, and she quickly became aware of how dirty and stinky she was from days of travel.

“I’m going to go,” Morgan said as she began walking to the door.

Rylo turned, his golden wings slightly spread. They were so beautiful. Not just golden, but interspersed with pale yellows and deep golds, almost brown. She resisted the urge to walk over to his side and touch them.

“You’re going to regret what you did,” he said, stepping nearer to her. “You just made an enemy of your sister’s powerful soulmate.”

Morgan sighed. “Avery has always chosen to follow her heart and dive head first into things. I’m not like that. I’ve thought about it for days, and I couldn’t live in a whole nation of folk who wanted me dead. It wasn’t like I didn’t try to explain that to her—multiple times!”

Morgan turned back to the door, then she heard a rustling behind her and Rylo put his hand on her shoulder. “Why choose me over Latiah? Do you not fear that I’ll kill you? After all, I am the one who has killed many humans.”

Morgan felt the smile spread across her face as she looked up at this predatory man. She took his hands in hers, studying the black lines that now jutted out against his golden skin. They were surprisingly soft, the hands of a man used to being served. “You don’t scare me. Look what you did to yourself for me.”

She dropped his hands and felt her shadows dance around them. Rylo’s golden eyes glowed as he stared at her.

“I wasn’t going to let a necessary asset be wasted. Had you explained your plan, I could have found another way. But that isn’t what you did, is it? Now I will bear a permanent reminder of your foolishness.”

Morgan flicked her gaze up at the ceiling. She needed to get out of here and get some rest. “Whatever you want to call it. I know you aren’t going to kill me, so I’m staying in Nephel.”

She didn’t let him get another word in as she walked out the door and headed to her room.